The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1887-03-03
RAILROADS AND FARMS.
A LAWYER THINKS THAT THEY
STAND THE AME FOOTING.
Judge jeremiah ). Black Don't Thiuk
So..In Fact He Thinks That the State
Ought to Control Them.

|
| Commission last Friday night a r. r. attor
ney repeated time and again the wei
worn argument that the State had nt
more right to regulate railroad charges
! than to say how mans farm should bt
conducted. One Of the gentleman who
was advocating a Commission asked one
of the ablest attorneys: ''Do you think
| that railroads stand upon the same footing
as a farm before the law" He answered
at once Il do" ''Do you state that as a
lawyer" was the next inquiry Il do,
was the reply.
We know the gentleman to be an able
lawyer and his response to the question
was an utter surprise to Us. OF course
there is no law for such an opinion al
least If theie is some the ablest lawyer in
North Carolina, with whom we have talked,
have never seen it.
The late distinguished jurist, Hon. ,Jere-
lniah 5. Black, some years ago made an
argument before the Judiciary Committee
of the State of Pennsylvania en- railroad
monopoly which TO our mind is unans ver-
able. The argument opens with denial
to he charge that he is communis: enough
TO wish the destruction of all cOrpO' ate
property and that he acts in the interest
ofsomt anonymous corporation. He says:
Il respect the Constitution; perhaps | am
pr'judiced II favor of natural justice and
equality" Proceeding he says:
But We, the people, have rights of prop
erty as we'll as the corporations, and ours
are-Or at least they ought to be-aS
sacred as theirs. Between the great do
main which we have conceded to them,
and that which still belongs to US. the line
is plainly and distinctly Marked and if
they cross 1t for purposes OF plunder they
should be driven back under the lash of
the law. 1t is not the intent of the amend
cd Constitution, nor the desire of those
who demani ITS enforcement, to do them
the slightest injury. We only ask for hat
impartial and Just protection which the
State, as parcns patrlp, owes 10 US noI
less than to them.
The Judge combats the idea thaIthe
companies are the owners of the railroads
aud says the notion that they are is as
silly is ii is pernicious." y State may
build RAJ soad by taxation and make it
free to all; she may get the road built by
corporation. and individuals and permit
the builder to collect toll or taxes from
those who carry or travel on it. The pro-
prletary right always remains III the State.
Those who run the railroads are public
agents. To say that they are not public
agents would be as prepOsterous as TO f-s
>ert that township roads are the private
property of the supervisors In the Su
preme Court of Pennsylvania Erie & \.
t. r. K. Co, VS.. Casey-2 Casey, Ip.
30. -324) it was determined that a railroad
built by authority of1he State for the gen
eral purposes of commerce is a public
highway. and in no sense private property
that corporation aut lorlzcd to run 1t
is a servant of the State as much as an
Office legally appointed to do any other
public duty, as strictly confined by the
Jaws, and as liable to be removed fo.'
transgreSsing them. No Judge whose au
thorlty Is worth a straw, ever denied this
doctrine. If these things be admitted, he
says, it will not be denied that all proper
regulations should be made to prevent
those agents from betraying their trust
and >that it is wise and just to do so.
- But, on the other hand, the corpora
tionS deny that they owe any responsibility
10 the State, more than individuals en-
gagged in private business. They assert
that the management of the railroads
being a mere speculation of their own,
these thoroughfares of trade and travel
must be run for their interest without re
gard to public right If they take ad
vantage of their power to oppress the
labor and overtax the land of the State;
if they crush the industry of one man or
place to build up the prosperity of anoth
cr; if they plunder the rich by extortion,
or deepen the distress of the poor by dis
themselves by showing that all this was in
the way Of business; that their interest
required them 10 do it; that if they bad
done otherwise their fortunes would not
have been SO great as hey are; that it was
the prudent, proper, and successful method
Of managing their own affairs. This is
their universal answer to all complaints.
Their protests against Legislative lnterven-
ton to protect the public always take this
shape. with more OF less distnctneSs of
outline In whatever language they clothe
their argument, it Is the same in substance
AS that with which DemetrluS, the silver
smith defended the Sanctlty of the temple
for which he made shrines, ''Sirs, We know
that 10y this craft We have our wealth. =
Referring to the fact that two able Hw-
yers dissented from him when he said that
The ma ma cement Of The railroads was not
a matter of business to be conducted like
private enterprise, Judge Black charac-
,crlzes it as "a heresy' and says it is ''ab-
surd" and deserves refutation.
| aver that a man or Il corporation APP
pointed to do public duty must perform
1t with an eye single to the public interest
If he perverts his authority 10 purposes of
private gain he is guilty Of corruption, and
all who aid and abet him are his accom-
plices N crime He defiles himself if he
mingles his own business with that intrust-
ed t. him by the government, and uses
one to promote the other. If a Judge
excuses himself for false decision bv
saying that he sold his judgment for the
highest price he could get, you cover his
character with infamy. A ministerial of
fl .er, life sheriff, for instance, who ex-
torts from a defendant, OR even from a
convict in his custody, what the law does
not allow him to collect, and puts the sur
plus in his pocket, Is kuave upon whom
you have no mercy. You send County
Commissioners to the penitentiary for con-
sulting their own financial advantage to
81, g 4 t1,,- -.